We have some similar issues but not this extreme. During school hours, we can not do 'unhealthy' things in the cafeteria during school hours.
This really does stink for yall. There are so many great alternatives - but last minute might have been a budget issue. But yeah, this seems very extreme:(

We offer fruit like, grapes, strawberries and bananas along with smaller muffins (we used to offer the big Otis Spunkmeyer muffins), Apple juice, milk and Orange juice are the drink options and of course coffee for parents.

Our School District has a wellness policy in place as well. It began removing pop machines from the Middle School and High School and now has gone as far as removing them from the staff rooms. Exeptions are made for staff appreciation week. We also get an exception for PTO activities that are after school hours since the parents are supervising their own children. When I needed to change a reward last year, our principle informed me that as long as i provided a "healty alternative" then I was with in the guidlines. So I could reward with ice cream as long as I offered a bowl of fresh bananas, apples or oranges.
I suggest you read your policy and try to find something that will comply. I do not think the school boards intended to ruin PTO events.

My son is 8 1/2 years old and developed Type 1 diabetes when he was 3 1/2. He is not overweight and there is no family history of the disease. The doctors don't know why he got it, but it certainly wasn't because he ate a cookie or a piece of candy in school!

It is a growing epidemic in this country right now that our children are being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The focus should be on finding out why our children are getting it and not on monitoring our school's bake sales or candy fundraisers.

Our district has had a wellness policy for the past three years, maybe four, and there are changes that have been eased in each year to help everyone come to grips with the realities. The first change that impacted our PTO was elimination of bake sales, which we only held three times a year anyway. We were financially healthy enough to survive without them. We have policies that restrict what children may bring into the classroom for birthday celebrations, but that doesn't affect the PTO. My son has a summer birthday so I'm not 100% sure what the rules are -- if I wanted to send in a treat I would definitely ask at the main office beforehand, to avoid a hassle.

That's my district in NJ. That said, regarding your events I don't know exactly how they work, but if you are providing muffins/donuts to *adults*only*, not to the students, the district shouldn't have any say in what is offered, IMO. The state regulations and policies should be intended for foods provided for the STUDENTS. Teachers can still get in the car at lunch and drive to Burger King if they want, and parents can even send food in a lunch box that isn't healthy. What our district works to avoid is anything on the school's lunch menu that has poor nutritional makeup (high fat/sugar, empty calories). No one is policing how much jelly is on my son's PB&J!

What I would do in your situation is to speak with the school nurse, principal, or district superintendent and ask whether the wellness policy prohibits offering treats to adults at meetings/events not open to students.

Good luck.

~ Liz

over-the-top interpretations of the policies

Ah, but who is doing the interpreting? You've got the federal policy. Then each state decides how it wants to implement - exactly as is or perhaps a bit tighter.

Then you have the local policy at the school district level - which again can be as delivered by the state or more strictly.

THEN you have the poor, overwhelemed principal/administrator/teacher trying to figure out yet another set of rules to enforce. This person may get an skewed explanation or totally misinterpret the real policy.

So then it comes to parents who fuss and complain. Perhaps deservedly so, but that alone doesn't help. It's up to us as PTO Leaders to keep a clear head, figure out the real situation, and work constructively towards change if that's what is needed. Yes, perhaps it would be nice if it had been different - but we have to deal with the current reality.

At the government level, I sympathize because writing policies like this is a no win situation. Leave too big a loophole and the policy is pointless. Make the rules too restrictive and that backfires as well.

At the school level, most districts have various committees these things go through. They beg for parent and community members to serve. But much of the work of such committees is tedious and boring. Develop policies? Yuk. So they do the best they can; no one objects during comment periods. Yet everyone hates it and complains when the policy is implemented.

I'm just saying it's not like some evil government official woke up one morning and decided to make all our lives miserable. These rules are in place. Let's see what they really mean, how we can support them, and how we can be a catalyst for change where needed.